As long as there has been an Internet, there’s been porn and spam. I’m not going into the sordid history of either, but if you’re not familiar with the latter, then get thyself o’er to Wikipedia and read up, then get come on back pronto. See, I’m writing today in defense of spam, specifically in the form of blog comments.
Wait, WTF? Did Greg actually say he’s defending spam? Yuppers. Read on, teeming dozens.
As annoying and frustrating as spam can be, there’s also an upshot. When coupled with a community like Windows Live, it provides a rather unconventional opportunity to do a little social network crawling. Here’s how:
- When you receive a spam comment on your blog, don’t just report and delete it. First, take the time to pay a visit the offender’s profile. Maybe even leave a little comment of your own on his wall. Really let him know that you care.
- Once there, be sure check out his What’s New feed. If the spammer is worth his snot, you’ll find interesting blog posts from around the globe.
Scores of potential friends just waiting for you to reach out to them
- Click on a few to start reading and commenting. You might just a make a new friend or two in the process. Why, it’s almost like having “Spaces Central” again!
Using this tactic, I was able to find entertaining blog posts from people I’d never met, all thanks to some low-life spammer who probably lives in his mom’s basement and has nothing better to do than churn out link-laden garbage comments all day for 2¢ per click thru. I walked across his web o’ crap to find a varied and interesting assortment of articles on topics ranging from cooking to television, all written by hard-working Netizens like yourselves. And because we’d all been victimized by him, it was kind of therapeutic, like our own little support group. Talk about turning a negative into a positive.
Oh, and then I reported him to Microsoft. You can’t let that crap slide. 
– Greg
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gregsedwards 
You clever clogs! What an excellent idea;-)
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Hello Greg, I don’t think it’s a good idea to respond back to someone that is spamming your blog why do i say this?because you only feed into this and it always gets nasty. A long time ago I use to run a (News Group) we always had a troll com into our group starting trouble with other members so when they started flaming others we just did not respond back to there post after awhile they get tired and leave. As for the person spamming our blogs yes it is good to report them but what will be done about it? I have to clean my blog out all most every week because of spamming.
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Enjoy the wryness of approach and the punchline.
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@ Doc – Well, trolls and flamers may be one thing, but most spammers couldn’t care less about your feedback. Their goal is just to cram as many links into your blog comments as possible. I’d wager that a lot of them don’t even bother checking their profile notes, but if you leave a little note there to identify the spammer, it might prevent other unsuspecting users from adding that person to their networks. Yes, reporting a spammer is the best solution, but we can still have a little fun in the interim, right?
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Pity we can’t delete the rotters ourselves, innit! Well, after we’ve had our fun with them;-) I’m naughty.
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Great post Greg. While my computer was in the shop I surfed Live from my cell phone a bit. I noticed that Windows Mobile gives "Updated Spaces" just like it did here in the old days. Just thought you might be interested. X
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Greg, yes you have a good point might as well have some fun with these spammers. There seems to be one spammer that hits everyone’s blogs I have trace it back to a empty blog no contents at all
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Oh! Pleasantly surprising link, Greg:-)
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Thanks, but–and call me ‘old school’–"getting out and meeting people", to me, requires "getting out". Spammers be damned–and banned, I’m just not that desperate to make new friends.
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This one was written with tongue firmly planted in cheek, Tim. Oh…and nice meeting you. 😉
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Looks like the spammers like you Greg. They seem to be thanking you for "supporting there cause" by sending you some nice laptop battery deals! How thoughtful of them isn’t it! Oh an even if it’s tongue in cheek, I really have found some interesting blog articles by connecting to these comment spammers profiles. Bless their battery loving soles. :)
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Wow, I take one evening off, and all hell breaks loose. I must’ve deleted nearly 100 spam comments from my blog this morning. Turns out it all came from just two profiles, so reporting them was quite easy. Let’s see if the WL support team can get on the ball and close them down. @ Cal – Thanks for the feedback. This article was a lot of fun to write. I like turning a negative into a positive whenever possible, and the value in spam is that it connects us in some rather unique ways. I suppose it’s all in how you use it.
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Oh dear. Didn’t you want yer breakfast, then?;-)Oi, no. It wasn’t me.
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